The straight-line distance from the hotel to the Hexagon Building at the Hangzhou trading market wasn't too far; it was just a trip across a small portion of the city.
Under normal circumstances, it would take fifteen minutes by car or forty minutes on foot.
But that was back when there were no monsters, the streets were intact, and the traffic lights were still functional.
Now, the entire street was tightly packed with smashed maglev cars and collapsed billboards, and the air was thick with the pungent smell of burning and blood.
Lin Yuan had just turned a street corner when he spotted them—unfortunately, they weren't Shadow Abyss Wolves.
It was a pack of monsters that had flooded into Hangzhou from the direction of the dense forest, numbering about twenty or thirty, crowded into a four-lane commercial street.
Green-maned Wolves, Thorny Boars... as well as two particularly eye-catching Rock-armored Great Lizards and a Tier 2, Level 3 Shadow Leopard.
Some were gnawing on fallen corpses by the roadside, some were slamming into the rolling shutters of shops, and others were tearing at each other.
None of them noticed that a person carrying a purple spear had appeared at the corner.
When Lin Yuan saw this group of monsters, his eyes lit up like two lightbulbs.
“A-Ability points... running all over the ground?!”
He spoke quite loudly, his voice trailing upward with excitement.
Hearing Lin Yuan’s voice, the monsters all turned their heads in unison.
The Iron-spined Boars stopped their ruckus, the Green-maned Wolves stopped howling, and dozens of pairs of differently colored beastly eyes stared at this human who had suddenly popped up. The scene was momentarily very awkward.
A Thorny Boar, with a length of intestine still hanging from the corner of its mouth, stared blankly at Lin Yuan, seemingly wondering if this human had a mental problem.
The silence lasted for about two seconds.
Then, all the monsters simultaneously exploded.
They didn't explode in fear; they exploded in fury.
A single human, alone, had seen over twenty monsters, and his first reaction wasn't to run or scream for help.
Instead, he was saying something nonsensical like, “Ability points running all over the ground?!”
To monsters, this was practically racial discrimination.
A Thorny Boar was the first to charge, followed by Green-maned Wolves, Gray-skinned Jackals, Iron-spined Boars... the ground trembled under their weight.
Over twenty monsters launched an attack from different directions, completely surrounding Lin Yuan.
The corners of Lin Yuan’s mouth slowly curled up—not in a smile, but in the kind of grin one has when seeing a year-end bonus arrive early.
Immediately after, Lin Yuan held Purple Lightning horizontally in front of him.
【Sands of Time】 activated. Within a four-meter radius, the air suddenly became viscous.
Invisible grains of sand silently dispersed.
The Thorny Boar at the very front had just stepped into the range of the Sands of Time when its speed plummeted, changing from a headlong dash into slow-motion playback.
Immediately after, Thunder Arc was unleashed.
“Thunder Walk Through Nine Heavens, Second Form—Thunder Arc.”
Purple Lightning slashed diagonally, and the lightning gathered on the spear blade into an extremely thin semi-lunar arc, tracing a silver-purple ribbon of light through the air.
The arc blade sliced through the Thorny Boar, then through the midsection of a Gray-skinned Jackal behind it, and finally embedded itself in the bone armor of an Iron-spined Boar before exploding.
Three monsters fell at once—a triple kill with a single strike!
【Killed Tier 1, Level 7 Thorny Boar, Ability Points +42】【Killed Tier 1, Level 6 Gray-skinned Jackal, Ability Points +38】【Killed Tier 1, Level 8 Iron-spined Boar, Ability Points +45】
Lin Yuan didn't stop. Seizing the moment, he turned into an afterimage and charged into the densest part of the monster pack.
The spear tip thrust out.
“Thunder Walk Through Nine Heavens, First Form—Awakening of Insects.”
The lightning-clad spear tip flicked out, severing the front leg joints of a Green-maned Wolf.
Immediately after, he spun and delivered another diagonal Thunder Arc, hitting the Shadow Leopard that was trying to ambush him from the side at maximum range.
His left hand flicked, and a pale purple lightning needle from Running Thunder Finger shot out silently, piercing the eye socket of a Gray-skinned Jackal on the other side.
【Killed Tier 2, Level 3 Shadow Leopard, Ability Points +90】
【Killed Tier 1, Level 6 Gray-skinned Jackal, Ability Points +38】
【Killed Tier 1, Level 9 Green-maned Wolf, Ability Points +50】
He wove through the monster pack, his speed so great he left only afterimages.
Every time the tip of Purple Lightning flared, a monster fell. Within the slow-motion range of the Sands of Time, not a single monster could even touch the hem of his clothes.
【Killed Tier 2, Level 4 Rock-armored Great Lizard ×2, Ability Points +220】
Lin Yuan occasionally stopped in the gaps between the fighting to check his rapidly rising ability point balance, muttering to himself, “That’s 130 points,” “That’s 160 points,” and “Holy crap, this monster actually gave 110? Thick-skinned ones really are worth more.”
...
Twenty minutes later, the last monster—the Tier 2, Level 3 Shadow Leopard.
It was pinned to a collapsed billboard by Lin Yuan’s spear, twitching twice before falling still.
The street quickly went quiet, leaving only the sound of nearby fires burning.
Lin Yuan stood amidst a field of monster corpses, his chest heaving slightly as he opened the system panel.
【Ability Points: 4150】
Four thousand one hundred and fifty!
Lin Yuan stared at the number, his expression absolutely brilliant.
It had been less than an hour since he left the hotel, and his ability points had jumped from 2480 to 4150—a net profit of nearly one thousand seven hundred.
If he could find a few more Shadow Abyss Wolves to kill in the city, reaching five thousand points to upgrade to D-rank would not be a dream.
“Comfortable.” He shouldered Purple Lightning, stepped over the piles of monster corpses, and continued toward the Hexagon Building.
...
Meanwhile, beneath Hangzhou, at the exit of the Abyss Magic Cave.
The remains of the sealing formation were still emitting a faint, dark red glow.
The ground was covered in dense runes, the cave walls were scarred with deep marks, and the air was heavy with the thick scent of blood.
On the open ground outside the cave entrance, four figures slowly emerged from the depths of the Abyss Magic Cave.
Ordinary Shadow Abyss Wolves stood between 1.8 and 2 meters at the shoulder, with dark silver fur and eerie green eyes.
But these four were different—firstly, their sizes were incomparable.
The three Shadow Abyss Wolves walking in the back were over 2.5 meters tall at the shoulder and nearly five meters long. Fine golden patterns were interspersed through their dark silver fur.
Their pupils were deep green, and within their depths, distinct runes were slowly rotating.
The bloodline of the Royal Clan was naturally stronger than other Abyss Wolves; their combat power was at least thirty percent higher than those of the same rank.
These three Shadow Abyss Wolves belonged to the Royal Clan, and each was at Tier 2, Level 5. Yet, under their pressure...
The surrounding ordinary Tier 2, Level 5 Shadow Abyss Wolves all lowered their bodies, tucking their tails between their legs, not even daring to breathe loudly.
And the one standing in front of the three Royal Clan members was actually smaller—less than two meters at the shoulder and just over three meters long, barely larger than an ordinary Shadow Abyss Wolf.
However, the color of its fur was completely different.
It wasn't dark silver, but a deep, dark purple.
The golden patterns weren't just interspersed in its fur; they covered its entire body, forming a complete and complex set of markings.
Its pupils weren't eerie green, but gold.
Pure gold. Deep within its pupils, there were no runes, only a razor-thin vertical slit—the hallmark of the Imperial Clan among the Shadow Abyss Wolves.
Shadow Abyss Imperial Clan! Tier 2, Level 6!
Rate on N.U.
